Book support



Oct. 23, 1956 J. L. GRANT BOOK SUPPORT Filed March 29, 1952 'IN V EN T 0R. 101m Z. 6mm

United States Patent BOOK SUPPORT John L. Grant, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application March 29, 1952, Serial No. 279,311

' 4 Claims. c1. zit-42) This invention relates to structures for supporting books and similar articles, and more particularly to a book support capable of supporting one or more books.

It is an object of this invention to provide a book support which will hold up a single book and also may be used to support one end of a row of vertical books.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a book support which grasps one of the'book covers to hold the book vertically without damage or permanent deformation to the book.

These and other objects of this invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description, together with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a book support of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the book support of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modified book support according to this invention.

In general, this invention provides a book support on which a single book is supportable in an upright position by securing the book cover between an upright member and an elevated surface spaced away from the upright member.

Referring to the figures, Fig. 1 shows a book support according to this invention having a base 11 divided into two sections 12 and 13 by an upright 14. The right section, as seen in Fig. l, is described as the outer section for the purpose of this description, while the left section, as seen in Fig. l, is referred to as the inner section. A cube 15 is positioned on an upper surface 16 of the outer section 12 adjacent to but removed from the upright 14. The upright 14 has an outer vertical surface 17 which faces the cube 15. An inner corner 18 of the cube 15 has a vertical extending edge 19 most adjacent to the vertical outer surface 17 of the upright 14. The edge 19 is spaced from the vertical surface 17 by a spacing A.

As seen from above in Fig. 2, the cube 15 on the section 12 of the book support 10 is spaced from the vertical surface 17 by the spacing A, which spacing A is of sufficient dimension to receive the cover of an average book 20 supported on the book support 10. An outer cover 21 of the book 20 is inserted between the vertical surface 17 and the vertical edge 19 in the spacing A. The remainder of the book, made up of pages 22 and the other cover of the book, is positioned on the opposite side of the upright 14 from the cube 15. On this opposite side of the book support 10 the pages 22 and cover 23 rest upon a surface 24 on the left section 13. The pages 22 are adjacent to or abut a second vertical surface on the inner side of the upright 14.

Thus, it is seen that a single book may be held upright on the book support 10 of this invention. The single book 20 is held on the book support 10 by sliding the cover 21 in the spacing A between the cube 15 and the upright 14. In this position the cover 21 abuts on its outer side the edge 19 and on its inner side the vertical surface 17. The edge 19 is of sufficient height to give the cover 21 a purchase thereon. The upright 14 is of sufficient height to support the average book against lateral movement with respect thereto. The cover 21 is held securely between the upright 14 and the cube 15 and their respective surface 17 and edge 19. In the case of some books, the cover 21 will fill less than the entire spacing A. Book 20, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is such a book; nevertheless, the book is securely held on the book support 10 as the free space is too small proportionately to allow the book 10 to flop over either to one side or the other. In any case, if desired, the extra space may be taken up by pages added with the cover.

In Fig. 3, a book support 30 is shown having a base 31 with an outer section 32 and an inner section 33 corresponding to similar parts in the book support 10 described in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The inner section 33 has an upper surface 34 which is relatively smooth. A book may be held on the book support 30 in substantially the same manner as described in connection with the book support 10 of Figs. 1 and 2. However, a book so held singly on the book support 30 might tend to swing open on the inner side of the book support 30. This would be allowed by the relatively smooth surface 34 of the inner section 33.

A book support of this invention may be composed of any suitable material. For example, the embodiments shown in Figs. 1-3 may be composed of a plastic material, wood, or metal. The embodiments disclosed may be composed of any material sufiiciently ductile to be folded in the manner shown. This fold may also be of another cross sectional configuration, such as a square, triangular, or circular shape. In like manner, no matter what material is used in making this invention, elevations in other shapes, for example, the sphere 15' shown in Figure 3, may be substituted for the cube 15 in Fig. 1.

The invention can be cast, carved, molded or otherwise fabricated from any sufliciently rigid material either as a single piece or in separate parts to be joined together. For example: When the book support of this invention is composed of a plastic material it may be formed in a number of ways; for example, it may be molded. A book support of plastic material may also be assembled by joining together the various components from separate parts. The book support may also be formed by casting and other ways.

The book support of this invention employs the weight of the book which is supported thereon to cooperate in supporting the book in an upright position. The cover of the book is positioned to be retained between an upright and an outside elevated surface. The vertical upright is tilted to hold the book in a position whereby the cover on the tilted side of the book is retained against swinging open by its contact With the base. On the other hand, the base may be serrated to retain the inner cover of the book from swinging open. Among the advantages of the invention is that a single book may be retained upon a single book support without further parts and with ease of positioning. The outer side of the cover of the book is visible which is valuable for display purposes.

As mentioned above, various modifications of this invention are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention and, therefore, the scope is limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A book support comprising in combination a base portion, a flat upper surface on said base portion, an upright extending upwardly from said base portion which divides said base portion into a first section of said flat surface forming an angle of less than with said upright and a second section forming an angle of greater than 90 with said upright, said upright being tilted from 3 normal by an amount which is not greater than that which will displace the center of gravityof"averticalty placed book substantially from the normal position and away from the upright, said book having one cover resting onsaidsecondsection of said base portion wflhdh leaves and the other cover ofthe book'res'tingbn first section of said surface, and a*projecting el'erririt rising from said second section of said flat'sur face adapted to press in holding engagement against the cover of said book overlying saidupright and resting on said second section; said projecting element formed with surface portions converging towards said upright and which press againstsaid overlying cover to liold'it in position against saidupright. 2. A book support as claimed in claim 1 wherein said element is a rectangular bodyfixed to said first section between the'ends thereof and positioned to press an edge of said body against said cover.

3.--A book supportas claimed in claim 1 wherein said element is a spherical bodyfixed to said first section be tween the ends thereof.

--4. -A'booksupport comprising in combination a plane memberforming abase, an upright-plane-member substantially perpendicular to said base and dividing said base into a first and second portion, an 'abutment'exteriding upwardly from the first portion of said baseinterm'ediateone end thereof and the upright memberfsaid abutment being spaced from but substantiallynearer to the said upright than is either eittremity'of' the base, said upright being constructed and arranged to fit between one cover and-the bodyof any book which may be placed in a standing position on this support, a surface of said abutment opposite said upright being constructed and arranged to hold against said upright any book cover which may be placed between it and said upright, said first portion of the base being of sutficient length to extend a substantial distance away from said upright and under and beyond any book cover which may be placed upon it in a standing position adjacent said upright and of such width that the edges thereof extending away from said upright and under and beyond any book cover so placed will be on'either' side of and at a substantial distance from that vertical plane perpendicular to the upright'which'will 'pass through the center of gravity of any book which may be placed on this support with its cover between the upright and the abutment, said second portion of the base having a like width and being of sufficient length to extend away from the upright and under and beyond the body and one cover of any book placed in a standing position 'on'th'esupport with the upright inside onecover;

Ikeferences Cited in the file of this patent NIT D T E PATEN 

